Danish fishing tackle manufacturer Westin has warned the trade to be on the alert for an alleged counterfeit jighead, bearing its familiar Viking logo, that has been spotted for sale in tackle shops in Germany.

The company says that German tackle manufacturer Balzer has used the Westin Screwin jighead for its mould, but has ‘forgotten – or not bothered’ to remove the Westin Viking logo from the product.

Westin CEO Thomas Eldor Petersen said that over the years its products have been copied numerous times. But he added: “This time it has gone too far.

“There is a fine line between being inspired by a product and making a blatant copy. In this case Balzer took it too far. The Balzer Shirasu Screw Jig is still in the shops with our logo on it – without our consent. Westin wants to make it clear that we have nothing to do with this product and there is no cooperation between Balzer and our company.”

A spokesman for Balzer said that its producer, which also works for Westin, made a mistake and a small amount of its products went out bearing the Westin logo, He added: “Our Product Manager, Stefan Krings, has developed these kind of jigs in 1999. All kinds of products today are copies.”